A few questions about Catholic beliefs

[Untakenusername]

First of all, I want to be clear that I'm not bashing them in any way, I'm just curious about the following issues:

1). Why do they say the same prayer over and over again?

2). Why do they put so much emphasis on Mary? I know she was the mother, of Jesus, which is great, but just like the Apostle Paul, and the 12 disciples, isn't she just a "tool" used by God? Why is she so worthy of "praise"?

3). Why do they confess sins to their priest/pastor? I thought that was obsolete, from the moment Jesus died on the cross.

It seems as though they put a lot of emphasis on people. Mary, the priest of their church, and the pope. Why is this?

[CatholicDeacon]

Hi Jonah,

I am interested in the spiritual/psychological effect of Marian devotion...kind of..."what's it for?".

Quite an interesting topic worth investigating... For my own I could say that Mary points me to Jesus. That's all.

That may well have changed over the centuries.

In fact it has. For Catholics dogmas are organic... they develop with time

In seminary I took a course at the local Catholic seminary, and I remember an interesting discussion about the spectrum of Marian devotion in the Catholic church. It was explained as a range between Maximalist and minimalist. The Max would be seeing Mary as a co-redemptrix, and I guess the min would be just a step up from a respectful Lutheran or Anglican view of Mary...sort of like "chief Christian role model"...and let it got at that. But, I suppose even the min has a lot to deal with for those who spend no time on Mary.

Another true statement. Maxis and Minis all have a place within the spiritual traditions of the Church.

Viva Cristo Rey!

CatholicDeacon

[Goat]

Well, those are seperate religious sources that come from a common background. .. but I wouldn't call it 'evidence of the existence of mary', but rather evidence that the common source for the mainstream christians and the gnostics.

Evidence is still evidence (I think you have corroborated my point)... what you are questioning is the authority of this evidence, by dismissing it as "separate religious sources". Of course by implying that religious sources are not trustworthy I hope you realize that now you are questioning most of human ancient history, and by doing this you question the very foundation of your own western civilization, but hey... You sound like you know what you are doing so... "knot yourself out" ... What is eternity when we have the assurance of the "now"? right?

Viva Cristo Rey

CatholicDeacon

Yes, it is evidence.. but , the question is, what is it evidence OF?